


Dolls: The Adjustment

by pleasejustpickaname



Series: Dolls [2]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Angst, Belly Rubs, Bruises, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26609563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasejustpickaname/pseuds/pleasejustpickaname
Summary: As with any bizarre situations, there always needs to be an adjustment period. It just so happens that this adjustment period is a little more painful than others.
Series: Dolls [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897501
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Dolls: The Adjustment

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the delay, I have only really settled into uni and was in a bit of a frenzy prior to that.

Hongjoong rubbed his side, grimacing as Seonghwa apologised frantically for accidentally knocking his doll. He shook it off with a wave of his hand, noticing the eldest looked close to tears.  
"It's fine, Hwa," he said, "It happens."  
In truth, it had been happening a lot. Knocks and bumps and mere forgetfulness always happens during an adjustment period, it was to be expected after all. However, when the adjustment period was to dolls that impacted the health of their own friends, it was a bit different.  
All of them had been whacked once or twice, and it always elicited frantic apologies from the guilty party. While it was to be expected, it was still getting rather tiring.  
What was worse is that they actually bruised, something they hadn't found out until Mingi accidentally trapped Seonghwa's doll wrist in a door frame. The eldest had collapsed to the ground, wrist stinging so much tears came to his eyes. Mingi had apologised, but had freaked out when the eldest had entered the kitchen the next day with a practically black line encircling his wrist. It still hadn't faded today, Hongjoong thought wryly, a week later and it was still an ugly bluish purple colour.  
They'd had to explain the situation to their company, of course. That hadn't really gone down well, he remembered with a grimace.  
One of the staff members had gotten so irritated with the insistent back and forth that he snuck the Wooyoung doll from the pile and flung it to the floor secretly. His attempt to disprove them only failed, as Wooyoung cried out and held his face and stomach, winded. The frantic search for the Wooyoung doll only further affirmed their panic over the mystical things, and the company had no choice other than to accept what was happening and increase their security. They had promised to pretend they were just normal dolls, but ensure that the saesang got nowhere near them ever again.  
Hongjoong did wish it hadn't been Wooyoung's doll though. The poor boy had thrown up almost as soon as they had left the room, stomach turbulent. Hongjoong had suspicions the staff member had thrown it harder than he let on, but judging by the fact he gave the leader money to buy the entire group fried chicken, he felt confident in saying he regretted it. They had also been given a month's hiatus to get used to the situation.   
He looked around his semi-dejected group, noticing each and every lump and bump they had acquired in the past week.  
Seonghwa had, unfortunately, acquired quite a few, as Mingi was quite clumsy. Not including the ring around his wrist, he had a small bruise on his left cheekbone, a bigger one on his left elbow, and quite a big one spanning both of his thighs. Both thighs had unfortunately gotten caught on a door handle, and Hongjoong still remembered the chilling shriek his hyung had let out when he felt it. They were still having to ice those, and he was in pain every time he walked, but he refused to be bedridden, wandering the dorm while wincing.  
Yunho had gotten off relatively lightly, San's usual attentiveness spent on practice and work being diverted almost entirely to the doll. Despite this, he hadn't gotten off unscathed, with a large bruise on his ankle bone and a small one on the underside of his chin. Due to this, he was taking the role of 'Lead Medic' as he called it, tending to all the injuries everyone else had acquired and helping wherever he was needed. Never had Hongjoong been more grateful for San's diligence. At least they had someone who could help out.  
Yeosang was only a little bit scuffed up, but Jongho's passion for athletics was always going to cause some problems with something like this. All of Yeosang's injuries were from athletic accidents. He had a bruise spanning the entire left side of his face from when the doll was hit by a rogue basketball in the gym, so large that Wooyoung had nearly screamed when he saw his friend afterward. His knees were both bruised as well, along with one of his elbows. These had gone unexplained, as even Jongho didn't know how he had managed to hit the doll in those specific areas. After the basketball incident however, he had soon stopped his more dangerous (in this sense) athletic hobbies, instead focusing more on building up his core strength to prevent hurting the older any more.  
San had faired pretty well, but his reaction to the first accident had forced Wooyoung to take the utmost care of the doll out of fear. He was currently wandering the dorm with a nasty black eye, caused by Wooyoung dropping the doll, trying to catch it by grabbing its head, and consequently, right eye, and then actually dropping it. Yunho had freaked out when San had positively screamed in the night, feeling what felt like a thumb piercing straight through his eyeball. After the two oldest members and Wooyoung had dashed to their bedroom, they had been greeted with a heart wrenching scene. Wooyoung had sobbed out garbled apologies as San looked positively traumatised. It had been an awful first accident, but it had prompted Wooyoung to be much more careful with the doll, which Hongjoong was grateful for.  
Mingi was faring well, only a few bruises on his rear and legs from Yunho accidentally dropping and knocking the doll. Due to this, he had deemed himself Yunho's right hand man, helping out not with bruises and injuries, but food. While Hongjoong could appreciate the effort, he could also appreciate the fact that cooking was far from Mingi's strong suit, although the younger boy could make a mean hot chocolate for whenever they got battered. Despite his obvious lack of talent, Mingi worked hard in the kitchen, managing to make a passable bibimbap for dinner and even some good Victoria Sponge fingers for dessert, so the leader wouldn't shake a stick at it.  
Wooyoung had been decently well looked after by Yeosang, Hongjoong had to admit. He only had a small bruise at the corner of his mouth from when Yeosang handled the doll too roughly and a red patch on his back from where he'd been dropped. He had, however, been knocked out when Yeosang accidentally knocked the doll off a shelf and it landed on its head, which had ultimately caused a lot of panic in the dorm. Yeosang had been frozen on his bed when Wooyoung had collapsed, eyes wide open like a deer in the headlights and a look of sheer fright on his face. It had taken Seonghwa coaxing him out of the room and around the dorm for him to unfreeze, and he didn't leave Wooyoung's bedside until he was awake. Of course, he played this down, but not only did everyone in the dorm know the truth, Wooyoung did too. Of course, San can't keep any secrets when Wooyoung has his doll and a demonic set of fingers, the little brat.  
Jongho had also fared well, if Hongjoong did say so himself. As is to be expected, he had a few tumbles, but Hongjoong managed to catch him 9/10 times, so he only had a few bruises. He had a decent sized one on the left side of his ribs, along with a smaller one on the outside of his right thigh, but Hongjoong had been almost overly careful with his assigned doll. He knew the maknaes love for sports, and didn't want him to suffer while trying to engage in his favourite hobbies.  
Hongjoongs own doll had suffered a little bit, through no faults of Seonghwas own. He looked at his left hand, the big blackish bruise on the outside marring the smooth pale surface. Grimacing, he pulled himself up, feeling the aching bruise on his right hip protesting the movement.  
"How are we holding up?"  
A chorus of "OK"s, "decent"s and "fine"s rang out, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The leader nodded, frustrated but aware of the fact that he couldn't push them to tell him about any problems they were having. He pushed them all to go to bed, telling them it was late and that they could watch a film in the morning. When he and Seonghwa entered their room, the leader flung himself on his bed, sighing heavily.  
"You OK?" Seonghwa grimaced, moving to the wardrobe to change.  
" 'm fine," the leader lied, flipping onto his back and staring at the bunk above him. "Just tired."  
The older man snorted, throwing his washing into the laundry basket and perching on the edge of the younger man's bed. "Uh-huh, sure."  
Seonghwa started stroking up and down Hongjoong's stomach, something that he had started doing when Hongjoong got stressed during their trainee days. Ever since debut, however, Hongjoong had spent more and more time in the studio, causing them to have to abandon this little tradition of theirs. Seonghwa hadn't realised how soothing it was for him, and had missed it tremendously. Seeing how the smaller man sighed and wriggled beneath him, the younger had missed it too, and Seonghwa smiled wryly.  
"This isn't fair," the leader murmured, "I should be doing stuff."  
"What needs to be done?"  
"The album won't produce itself..."  
"And yet you aren't moving."  
"Shut up..."  
Seonghwa laughed at the relaxed expression on the youngers face, despite the fact he seemed to be trying to tell himself he needed to work.  
"You're so cute."  
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," the smaller whined, flopping back over. "Not fair."  
"Not fair? I think this is fair." Seonghwa frowned.  
"I'll never get anything done if you keep doing that."  
"Good thing I have another way to do it then, huh?"  
Hongjoong jolted as he felt the soothing stroking sensations start again, before he remembered. He flopped over again, feeling more like a floppy fish by the minute, to glare up at the older man, who was holding the Hongjoong doll and gently stroking its stomach. The older merely sent him a cocky grin.  
"Don't glare at me, you child." He chuckled. "I'll pull a Wooyoung on you."  
"Don't, poor San." The leader accepted his fate, just laying back and relaxing. "Who'd have thought that, as soon as the opportunity for revenge disappeared, he'd turn into such a tickle fiend??"  
"We should have expected it, I guess," the eldest mused, "he's always liked bullying us playfully, and they've enjoyed getting into tickle fights. He's never been able to win against San though, has he?"  
"Not until San was unable to fight back," Hongjoong agreed, and as they fell silent, they could hear squeaky laughter from Yunho's room. They looked at each other with a grimace.  
"Thank you for picking my doll, hyung. I would be dead if Wooyoung had taken mine."  
Seonghwa ruffled the youngers hair, chuckling fondly.  
"Should we check on our dimpled baby to check he's still alive or do we check on our demon baby to make sure he doesn't accidentally commit murder?"  
"I'll check on San, I think you should give Woo a piece of his own medicine."  
"Gladly."  
They split up in the hallway, and Hongjoong opened the door to Yunho and San's room, amused at the sight in front of him.  
Yunho was giggling at the youngest in the trio, as he rolled around on the floor squealing with laughter. The poor boys face was flushed, and tears of laughter were dripping down his cheeks. Hongjoong himself couldn't help but chuckle.  
"Seonghwas gonna give him a piece of his own medicine in a minute," he patted the youngers head, sitting next to him on the floor.  
"I'm actually going to kill him," San barely managed to get out between his laughter, "We're gonna be down a member in the morning."  
Suddenly, shrieking laughter could be heard from another room, and San's giggles started to calm. Clearly Seonghwa had attacked Wooyoung, stopping Wooyoung's own attack on his best friend.  
"Murder isn't the answer," was all Hongjoong said, and he smiled as San just rolled into his lap, exhausted. "I'd make him switch your dolls but I don't know if he's scared enough of anyone to not use them for torture."  
"Why does he keep tickling me?" The youngest whined. "I did nothing to him!"  
"Because he can!" Yunho chuckled, joining them on the floor and pressing a tiny kiss to both of their foreheads. "You know what he's like."  
San just pouted, nuzzling further into Hongjoongs tummy as he grumbled incoherently.  
"Chin up, kid, Seonghwa's gonna wreck him so hard he probably won't attack you tomorrow." The leader ruffled his dark hair playfully, laughing at the little yelp his victim let out. "And if you're nice I may persuade Yeosang to let you have Wooyoung's doll for a little bit tomorrow."  
San didn't hear this statement, as he had dropped off in the elders lap, snuffling quietly in his sleep. The shrieking laughter in the other room had stopped too, signifying that Wooyoung had also been put in his place for the night.  
Yunho helped Hongjoong lift San up, placing him on the bottom bunk instead of the top as neither of them wanted to wake him up. Hongjoong pressed a kiss to both of his dongsaengs foreheads, whispering a quiet 'goodnight' as he headed to the door. As he opened it, he turned over to see Yunho back hugging the sleeping San, looking content with where he was. He smiled fondly, switching off the light and quietly closing the door.  
He went back to his room, finding Seonghwa already chilling on his bed with a grin on his face.  
"How's San?"  
"Exhausted, how's Wooyoung?"  
"May have killed him slightly. He's sleeping."  
"Oof."  
"Well Yeosang found it funny. He actually joined in."  
Hongjoong shook his head. "Why on earth do all of our dongsaengs enjoy tickling each other within an inch of their lives?"  
"Because its the only way they can punish each other without the stylists getting mad."  
Hongjoongs mouth opened to retort, before he thought about it.  
"I-- fair."  
Seonghwa chuckled, opening his arms so Hongjoong could slip on top of him to cuddle.  
"We should probably sleep now before any more chaos erupts."  
"True, goodnight Seonghwa-hyung."  
"Goodnight."


End file.
